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US President Joe Biden has told Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the United States will not engage in any counterattack against Iran, according to a senior US administration official.
The comments were relayed during a phone call with Netanyahu on Saturday, in the wake of Iran’s retaliatory strikes against Israel.
Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) launched “extensive” retaliatory missile and drone strikes against the occupied territories on Saturday night local time, in response to the Israeli regime’s terrorist attack of April 1 against the Islamic Republic’s diplomatic premises in the Syrian capital Damascus.
During the conversation, Biden made it clear that the US will not be involved in any offensive actions against Iran and Netanyahu reportedly accepted this stance, according to the official.
The White House official said that Biden and his senior advisors are highly concerned that an Israeli retaliation to Iran’s strike on Israel could escalate into a widespread conflict with devastating outcomes.
The US military deployed aircraft and ballistic missile defense destroyers to the region in the past week, assisting Israel in thwarting incoming drones and missiles from Iran, Yemen, Syria, and Iraq, Biden said in a statement after the call.
Biden will hold a call with the G7 leaders on Sunday to discuss and “coordinate a united diplomatic response” to Iran’s attack, according to a statement released by the White House.
Moreover, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken in a statement said that the US does “not seek escalation” but will “continue to support” Israel’s defense and defend US personnel.
Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin also said that US forces helped intercept dozens of Iranian drones and missiles launched against Israel from Iran, Iraq, Syria and Yemen.
“We do not seek conflict with Iran, but we will not hesitate to act to protect our forces and support the defense of Israel,” Austin said in a statement.
A senior IRGC commander has warned that any further military aggression by the Israeli regime will see a bigger response from Iran.
Iran warns Israel against second attack
These comments come after Iranian officials have warned that any further military aggression by the Israeli regime will set off a bigger response from Iran.
A senior commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) talking to PressTV on Sunday warned that if the Israeli regime resorts to any military aggression on Iranian soil, Iran “will respond with twice the force.”
‘Operation True Promise’ was in response to the assassination of seven Iranian military advisors in Damascus on April 1, including a senior IRGC commander in Lebanon and Syria, General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, and his deputy General Hadi Haj Rahemi, the IRGC said in its first statement.
The second statement said the IRGC retaliation came after 10 days of “silence and neglect” on the part of the international organizations, especially the United Nations Security Council, to condemn Israeli aggression or punish the regime in line with Article 7 of the UN Charter.
The statement warned the United States — the Israeli regime’s biggest supporter — that “any support or participation in harming Iran’s interests will result in a decisive and regrettable response by the Iranian armed forces.
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